Sol Bamba will definitely miss Cardiff City's weekend clash with Barnsley and may be banned for longer following his red card at Ipswich Town, but one pundit believes it might benefit the Bluebirds long term.

Bamba grappled with opposition players, officials, his own teammates and Neil Warnock in an ugly incident which marred Cardiff's 1-1 draw at Portman Road.

But former Everton and Manchester City defender Andy Hinchcliffe thinks the incident might unite the Bluebirds' squad over the next few weeks.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Hinchcliffe said: "I'm sure it won't happen again, I think they will both sit down and say, 'This looked terrible'.

"I'm surprised it got to that point because surely Neil [Warnock] has come across players reacting in that way before, maybe on the training ground, maybe on a matchday.

"I was quite surprised by how he handled the situation because he was in the face of Sol and I thought maybe he would just get him away and get him to calm down."

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Although Bamba has issued an apology for his actions, as well as being banned and charged , his absence was not the deciding factor against Wolves, when Gabon international Bruno Manga stepped into the breach with confidence.

But with the African Cup of Nations coming soon, Bamba will be required by his managers to reproduce performances like the one against Bristol City on the 31-year-old's Bluebirds' debut.

Bamba has quickly become an influential figure at Cardiff City Stadium.

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And Hinchcliffe reckoned the incident could pull Cardiff together and steer them away from trouble, with Bamba set to return and prove a point to his doubters.

The comeback win over Wolves went a long way towards building confidence, but the Bluebirds face festive clashes with Barnsley, Brentford and Brighton before the year is out.

By then, Warnock's side could either be mired in relegation trouble , or create a gap between themselves and the bottom three.

Hinchcliffe added: "Experienced managers doing that (calming down Bamba) doesn't happen too often but they will learn lessons and clearly both parties are passionate about the job they are doing at Cardiff.

"They will pull together and strangely from this, the squad may actually get closer as a result and get some positive results off the back of it."